3 Easy Steps to Mastering Time & Energy Management

If you have the opportunity to work from home right now, it’s the perfect time to get started on those side projects — or side hustles — that you’ve been dreaming of. We know it can be a bit overwhelming to do so, especially if your dream side hustle has been, well, nothing but a dream, until now. The good news? We’re here to help.

Managing Time & Energy Can Be Challenging

More than anything, make sure that you are managing your time and energy impeccably. You don’t want your side hustle to add stress to your life, especially when you may be facing more stress than usual (i.e. with your kids staying home from school, shifting to working remote, etc.). An easy way to make your side hustle something joyful in your life is to manage your time and energy.

Here are three quick tips on mastering your time and energy management skills:

1. Create and stick to your own schedule.With working remote comes a lot of flexibility, and it’s easy to abuse that. In reality, working remote shouldn’t be that different than going into a physical workplace. To normalize your days, create a schedule — and stick to it! Wake up at the same time every day, have breakfast or drink a coffee, and try to work with the same productivity schedule that you would in your normal day-to-day. Remember, we’re trying to achieve a sense of normalcy here so that your day job doesn’t tire you out. Additionally, if you have kids at home, make a schedule for them, too.

2. Block off time for your side hustle.Okay, so you’ve made your schedule and you are sticking to it. You are working for your day job a normal amount — now, build in time for your side hustle and stick to those blocks. Some creative ways to do that include:

Utilize break times: Meal prep on Sundays so that you can use lunchtime to work on your side hustle instead of cooking

Combine exercise and side hustle: Walk on the treadmill in the mornings while using that as brainstorming time for your side hustle

Identify which is your most productive time of day and schedule out a “side hustle block” during that time

3. Track your time with an app or calendar.It’s easy to say we’re going to stick to our schedule, then start to deviate. We get it! Life gets in the way. The only way to prevent deviation, however, is by being disciplined. One way you can do that is by tracking your time with an app or calendar — there are plenty of time tracking apps available online for free. That way, you won’t be spending more time than necessary on your day job, you won’t let your side hustle overwhelm you, and you will be carving out time to relax and decompress, which you definitely still need. If you don’t know where to get started, check out some of our favorite organization apps likeBasecamp, Asana, and Hive.

We want you to be happy and healthy before anything, so make sure that you are managing your time and energy appropriately. Create a schedule, block off time for your side hustle, and track your time — once you are regularly doing these three things, you’ll be well on your way to mastering time and energy management. Good luck and happy side hustling!

Want more tips on building your side hustle? Check out our guide here!